4 THE WORK OF SADI CARNOT. 



of bodies, not a substance, and that it is identical, 

 in its nature, with other forms of recognizable 

 energy, as, for example, mechanical energy. A 

 quarter of a century before Carnot wrote, the ex- 

 periments of Rumford and of Davy had been cru- 

 cial in the settlement of the question and in the 

 proof of the correctness of the second of the two 

 opposing parties ; but their work had not become 

 so generally known or so fully accepted as to be 

 acknowledged as representative of the right views 

 of the subject. The prevalent opinion, following 

 Newton, was favorable to the first hypothesis ; 

 and it was in deference to this opinion that Carnot 

 based his work on an inaccurate hypothesis ; 

 though, fortunately, the fact did not seriously 

 militate against its value or his credit and fame. 



"With true philosophical caution, he avoids 

 committing himself to this hypothesis ; though he 

 makes it the foundation of his attempt to discover 

 how work is produced from heat." * 



The results of Carnot's reasoning are, fortu- 

 nately, mainly independent of any hypothesis as 

 to the nature of heat or the method or mechanism 

 of development and transfer or transformation of 

 its energy. Carnot was in error in assuming no 



* Tait : Thermodynamics, p. 13. 



